Some of the earliest signs associated with workplace stress include: sleep disturbances, constant fatigue, decreased memory, an increase in headaches and poor concentration. If you are currently experiencing one or more of these types of symptoms it might be the right time to take care of yourself by taking action.

Below are five important tips that can help you manage these symptoms and take control over your life before it effects your health.

Set Your Stress-Less Schedule

This involves building a Gap-Time into each day. Dr. Kirsch suggests that you should implement 5 “gaps” every day. The first should be when you wake up, the next at 10am, 2pm, 4pm and the last one before you go to bed at night. Every gap involves around two minutes for self-assessment where you make the time to take stock on yourself. You need to ask yourself “How am I doing? Now breathe deeply and take note on how your body is feeling and pinpoint any spots that are tense.

The majority of people retain tension in their shoulders, jaw and forehead. Now take the time to relax and breathe. The simple act of these short gaps that breaks up the information stream flowing into your brain and subconscious, allows for a way to plug into “self” which interrupts the stress reactions that are accumulating, where you can make the necessary adjustments that will slowly build-up how resilient you become to stress.

Become Assertive By Learning How To Say “No” Or “Maybe”

If a co-worker or your boss is consistently dropping more work into your “inbox” that is already overflowing consider saying this assertive statement “I appreciate that you have confidence in me and my work, I will try to get this new project completed as soon as I can, but at this point in time as you already know I am swamped”. This is the type of statement that brings about awareness that you are already overworked, while you still maintain a team-orientated and positive tone.

Take The Necessary Time Off

Make sure you use your personal and vacation days every year. Even if you do not have plans to travel to exotic locations, it is still beneficial to spend time relaxing in your home far away from the general workplace stress which will help you to build resilience when it comes to stress. If you feel stressed, try something like this.

Find Your Own “Off” Button

Turn off gadgets and phones at a specific time every night preferably between 6 and 8pm every day. This allows for a way to completely “unplug” from any stress of the day. You should also spend your lunch break focused on either talking to a friend or eating a meal. Avoid spending this break checking on emails or texting.

Talk The Talk And Walk The Walk

This is actually two tips combined into one, but both work simultaneously as an effective stress-busting tool. Some of the better stress-management techniques include a physiological and psychological intervention, with talking and walking which translates into cheap and simple. Talk to another person about what you have to deal with while at work. This doesn’t always need to be a medical professional, in fact a loved one, friend, or like-minded co-worker will do.

The act of just venting any of your frustrations will make them a lot simpler to deal with every day. You may also want to walk, by getting out of the office and even breaking a sweat. Physical activities are still regarded as one of the very best stress busters. The human body has a natural fight-or-flight response that are built-in to run to safety or fight off attackers. When we are placed under stress that is acute the body will be flooded with various chemicals and adrenaline to help us escape the attack.

When in your workplace you cannot escape these attacks better known as “workplace stress”. However, you are able to get out of the situation by taking a walk on your lunch break or jogging or running when you finish work to blow-off that steam which significantly reduces the stress responses in your body.